


Eight Candles

by Sylanna



Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Domestic Fluff, Hanukkah, Jewish Character, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:47:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 2,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27990990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sylanna/pseuds/Sylanna
Summary: A collection of short interconnected pieces, carrying the celebration of Hanukkah into a modern Middle-Earth context.
Relationships: Fingon | Findekáno/Maedhros | Maitimo
Comments: 37
Kudos: 21
Collections: Festival of Lights Fest





	1. Victory against difficult odds

**Author's Note:**

> All my knowledge about Hanukkah is based on research, so please tell me if I did write something which is completely wrong - I do try to be very respectful, still there may be facts which have slipped past me during my research.

“You told me, you grew up with Jewish traditions”, Maedhros initiated a conversation at the end of November. He and Fingon had been dating for almost eighteen months, but would be their first winter together. The last December Fingon had spent with his family.  
Fingon nodded. “Yes. At least with some of them.”  
“My question is, do you celebrate Hanukkah?”  
“I do. But I’m not overly observant about every tradition. Comes from growing up in a household of different backgrounds.”

“Do you know the story behind the celebration?”  
“I read something about a temple, on the internet…”  
Fingon’s smile was benevolent. “During one of the wars of old, the forces of the enemy nearly overran the old stronghold. The defenders were pushed back and lost the temple, but they fought on and finally reclaimed it. The thing is, in the temple to honour God, the light should never fade. When the people regained the temple, there was only enough oil found left to feed the fire for a single day. Which was problem, as it takes eight nights to produce new oil. By miracle, the flame burnt for these dark nights it took to make new oil. This we remember to this day.”  
“This is a very evocative story”, Maedhros replied. “Will you teach me more about how you celebrate? I understand if you do not want to…”  
“Of course I will”, Fingon said.


	2. Gambling Games

“Oh, the postman brought a package for you”, Maedhros said when Fingon came home. “I placed it on the table, it’s from your mother.”

Indeed, there was a package waiting, painted on the outside beautifully, the words ‘CARE PACKAGE’ written in bold letters. Fingon smiled. He would need to phone her and thank her. But first, he needed to know what was on the inside. With glee he opened the heavy box.

“What is it?”, Maedhros asked curious from the kitchen.

Fingon grinned brightly. “Come and see!”

“A box of candies?”, Maedhros asked and then laughed. “Truly a care package!”

“She even sent me my dreidel which I forgot the last time I visited them.”

“A dreidel?”

“It’s for a game”, Fingon explained.

“Care to teach me?”

“Of course”, Fingon said and smiled. “Take a seat.”

Maedhros did as he was bid.

“Now take, hmm, let’s say eight pieces of candy.”

Both of them counted the number and laid them down in front of them. Then Fingon laid one piece in the middle. Maedhros followed his example.

“You can spin the dreidel like this”, Fingon explained and showed. “Depending on which side it lands on, a different action is taken. See, this one looses you a piece of candy to the pot, this one does not, at this”, he pointed at the fourth letter, “you can take half the pot, and the last one means you get everything. If there’s only one piece or nothing left, both of us have to add a piece. If one of us has nothing left, the game is over.”

Maedhros nodded in understanding. “I think you have to tell me again which letter has which meaning, but I’m up for a game.”

“Let’s light the candle first and play as it burns”, Fingon suggested with a smile.

Maedhros won the first round and was quite satisfied with himself.


	3. Candle-Light

Fingon and Maedhros sat comfortably in front of the television, as the electricity went out. They had started to watch a series they already knew and liked, but non of their hearts was truly in it. Outside, the sun had almost set and the darkness had come over the city.

Fingon stretched like a cat in Maedhros lap and purred underneath his breath. His boyfriend chuckled and slung his arms around him.

“And now?”, Maedhros asked softly.

It took Fingon a moment to reply. “Let’s get comfortable. I’ll light tonight’s candles and you can get us something to drink while I set everything up.”

The red haired ellon nodded and waited for Fingon to climb off his lap.

The electricity came back soon, but they did not turn the light back on. Instead they turned their eyes towards the three and one candles burning and enjoyed the closeness of their renewed embrace.


	4. Oil

Fingon c ame home late after his day of work. He was not able to take the day off and being someone who wass working in the health department, he had all hands full. Thankfully, he was not in extreme danger to get infected with the flu making it's way around, but the  season  was getting to his mind now.

He opened the door to the flat he shared with Maedhros and was pleasantly surprised by the smell coming from the kitchen. The fragrance of hot oil and sugar was in the air. It reminded him of the baking his mother’s mother had done during the holidays.

He put his jacket onto the hanger, washed his hands and then the face and followed the smell.

In the kitchen, Maedhros stood with an apron, his face very concentrated on the p an in front of him.

“Darling, what are you doing?”, Fingon asked.

Maedhros turned around. There was a smudge of flour on his cheek, but he smiled. “I made something for you”, he declared. “You told me about the food your grandma made, and I may have done another internet research, this time for a recipe. I wanted to try the latkes and jelly doughnuts you mentioned.”

Indeed, in front of Maedhros there was a stake of the potato pancakes and doughnuts. They were not perfect in shape, but they smelled heavenly. Fingon stepped closer and pressed a kiss to his boyfriend’s cheek, stealing a doughnut while he was at it.

“Thief!”, Maedhros exclaimed, his voice full of happiness and mirth. “I am almost finished, if you would set the table, we could start our supper with the latkes.”

That night, in the light of the four and one candles, they ate the fried food Maedhros had made.


	5. Minority Cultures

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For this chapter, the hc is that the old elven stories (from the Silm) are like old tales these days and some traditions remained, especially concerning the light of the stars and Maedhros has been raised with the more elven traditions, which humans would probably call pagan...

“Do you want to take a walk underneath the stars?”, Fingon asked Maedhros the next evening. It was already dark outside. The sun set early in winter and this night there were no clouds outside. The light of the city robbed much of the possibility to see the small points of light, but for their elven eyes it was possible to see them despite this.

“Yes”, Maedhros answered and stepped close to Fingon, pressing a kiss to his temple. “I would love to.”

Hence they put on their jackets and shoes and went outside.

The air was cold and biting and beautiful all the while. There were no people outside, as they tended to stay in their homes as soon as the sun hid behind the horizon. The night was the time of the elves. They had been the first of the people to settle in the world and had lived in the times before the sun, if the legends were to be believed. For Fingon, these tales were less important, as he was of a different heritage, but his boyfriend was raised with typical elven traditions. They included much worship for the stars and their light. As Fingon’s beliefs, it had it’s place in the modern world. For Maedhros, long walks underneath the stars were his kind of worship for the earth and the creation, something which Fingon could understand.

After an hour or two, they turned their steps towards home again, hand in hand. Maedhros was smiling and it almost felt as if the stars were sparkling still in his eyes. Once they were inside, he placed a firm kiss on Fingon’s lips, whispering a heartfelt “Thank you.”

They soon retired to their living room and Maedhros brought a box of matches to Fingon, letting him have the honour of lighting the one candle to light the other five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my first draft, I wanted to make Mae a goth, but decided against this, I think it's for the better :)


	6. Strength and resilience

On the sixth evening, Fingon felt drained. The day had been a brutal one for him at work. He had to fight his way through many people on his way home, people who did not understand they should be staying at home. The weather was bad and the streets were congested, another thing Fingon hated. When he came home, Maedhros wasn’t there, which was another blow. The red-haired one had of course told him it would get late for him too, but somehow Fingon had held onto the hope of finding his boyfriend in their shared flat.

He dropped his bag onto the floor next to the door and held onto the wall, suddenly robbed of his strength. A tiny voice in his head told him he was acting ridiculously, but the greater part of his brain was just shutting down.  Instead of going to the living room as he had planned, he went into the bedroom and crawled under the covers. Their shared smell welcomed him and Fingon hugged the blankets around him and breathed in deep.  Slowly he began to relax, even if he was still freezing. He was exhausted and it took a while until the covers began taking on his body’s warmth. Fingon closed his eyes and imagined Maedhros was beside him.

A  movement on the bed awoke Fingon. He opened his eyes and found it wasn’t overly dark in the room. From behind, arms wrapped around him and a body settled against his back. The light flickered and  Maedhros was finally back.

Fingon turned around in the arms of his boyfriend and was greeted by a wonderful sight. Behind his beloved on the bedside table was his chanukkiah, lit with the six-and-one candles, lighting the room beautifully and reflecting in Maedhros’ hair.

“I hope this is alright?”, Maedhros asked. “I know the light should be placed where the people outside could see it too, but…”

“It is more than alright”, Fingon whispered and placed a kiss upon Maedhros brow, settling against the larger ellon’s chest. “I don’t think I will leave the bed today again.”

Maedhros nodded in understanding. “Let’s just  enjoy the flickering light of the candles”, he proposed.

T his was what they did until Fingon fell asleep again.


	7. Miracles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, seems like my chapter of yesterday was prophetic. Today was - not good.  
> At least Fingon going to feel better again.

Fingon woke up refreshed in Maedhros arms. He still felt a bit tired, as he so often did this winter. He dreaded having to go to work again. Again having to shove his way through groups of people and other travellers.  
“Morning”, Maedhros greeted him.  
“Morning”, Fingon grumbled and cuddled closer. The warmth enveloped him and arms wrapped around him. He placed his head underneath his boyfriend’s chin and breathed in. He closed his eyes again and felt Maedhros’ smile.

When he opened his eyes again because Maedhros was moving again, shock went through his body. He sat up as fast as he could, looking at the clock. It was much too late, he should have been at work already. “Why did you not wake me?”, he asked.  
Maedhros placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You were clearly exhausted yesterday. I could not bear watching you run yourself to the ground, so I called your employer and told them you are not feeling well.”  
“But..”, Fingon started to protest. His work was important, he was working in the health department, he was needed. Lives could depend on his work.  
“I know”, Maedhros whispered. “And I am proud for your ethics. Still, you can’t help anyone if you break down and. Yesterday, I feared for you.”  
A tear dropped out of Fingon’s right eye. “I am sorry.” He was. Maedhros had been so thoughtful in the past few days and had done soo much for them in those days. Fingon, who’s traditions they had been following, had not had much time after work and it was true, he was beginning to feel – stretched. Instead of complaining, he whispered back. “Thank you.”  
And then the tears broke and he snuggled against his beloved again, wetting his shirt with salty water.

In the evening, he began to regain some of his motivation and together with Maedhros, he made his way into the living room. They placed their chanukkiah on the mantle by the window and lit the seven and one candles. They got out the dreidel again and played for the sweets Anairё had sent them. Slowly Fingon’s spirit seemed to finally lift and began to soar again.


	8. Different people

The lit all the candles and sat down in front of their computer. Tonight was the last night of the celebration and Fingon had scheduled a video call with his family. Maedhros sat back and watched him talk with Anairё, Fingolfin and Aredhel, the younger sister.

“Where is your partner?”, Anairё asked suddenly.

Fingon smiled. “Sitting next to me.”

“Get him on cam!”, Aredhel commanded enthusiastically.

Of course Maedhros did fulfil her wish. She was grinning and very happy. Behind them the candles burnt too, placed so the camera would see.

“Hi!”, Anairё greeted. “Did you like the chocolates?”, she asked immediately.

“Yes, of course”, Maedhros answered.

Aredhel winked. “Did you get any? Fingon is sooo good with the dreidel…”

“In fact, I won many games we played”, the red-haired one informed her.

“Really?”, the young one asked. “Next year, you have to play against me!”

“Will do so”, he promised.

When the call had ended, Fingon leant back. “I miss them”, he said with a forlorn expression in his eyes.

Maedhros nodded. “I know. I think they miss you too.”

A smiled answered him.

“I have a small present for you”, Maedhros revealed.

Immediately the sadness vanished and Fingon was excited and curious. “What is it?”

“You will see.”

It tool a few moments to get it. Given over to Fingon, the ellon removed the wrapping without much care and opened the box. Inside lay a scarf made of the most exquisite blue wool. It was interwoven with golden thread.

“It is beautiful”, Fingon whispered.

Maedhros smiled a placed a kiss upon his beloved’s lips. “I saw it in the city one day and decided to get it for you.”

“Thank you. I love you.”

They sat long in the light of the candles together that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, Kudos and Comments are highly appreciated.


End file.
